by Leia Stone
Ryder’s jaw was clenched. “Three hours.”
“Huh?” My brain was still processing the video.
Ryder turned to everyone in the room. “The sun goes down in Portland in three hours.”
Well … fuck. Maybe I wasn’t getting out of this alive. Because you bet your ass if the vampires were coming for the people of Portland, I was going to be there to stop them.
“It’s a one-hour drive, so we have two hours to suit up and make a plan.”
Jayden offered up an idea. “Let’s burn that damn place to the ground.”
Personally, I’d love to see the Hive burn, but Carter shook his head. “No. They’ll be on high alert. Snipers in every window. We won’t get close enough to the Hive. The vampires may not be trained like ash, but they are strong and have an arsenal that would put the Marines to shame. You won’t get within five hundred feet without losing your head. Not now. They’re expecting it.”
Fuck. Not to mention our ash buddies were still inside.
I met his gaze. “Then what?”
He started to pace. “I’m guessing eighty percent of them were in the celebration of new blood and feeders. They will be cured, eventually. The other twenty percent won’t go down without major bloodshed. Lock down the humans, martial law, curfew, the whole bit. Then we go in and fight them old-school. Like the culling, give them everything we got.”
Kyle spoke up again, his eyes trained to a second laptop he had open. “Vampires have warnings going out to all the Hives now. Looks like this bitch is gonna get ugly.”
I swallowed roughly. “Did any of them get cured?” Please tell me that my father was right, that at least eighty percent were knocked out. Vampire numbers were nothing on humans, so we’d have a chance if a good lot ingested the cure.
Kyle typed a few times, and finally glanced my way. “I’ve interrupted the alerts for now. They think they’re sending it out into the world, but it’s just staying on their particular server.” He paused, seeming to be choosing his words. “Sanctum is updating me; they believe that a good percentage of the vampires, in all Hives, have partaken of the cure blood. In some places the change to human is already kicking in. Thankfully, by the time they’ve fully changed back to human, the majority will have taken the cure.”
He flicked his head across to Becca, standing in Sam’s shadow, who had barely stepped two foot from her. “Whatever you put in the cure serum to speed up the process is really working. In fact, it’s much faster than we anticipated, which is why New York is already going crazy. Their celebrations started a few hours ago, and already vampires are showing signs of humanity.”
Becca paled, stepping around Sam to see the footage better. “Crap! I’m sorry. I thought it would be better to get the cure acting straight away on them all. I thought I’d calculated the right amount of time so that no one would notice until all had time to drink.”
She looked devastated, her eyes running across the footage again and again. Stepping over, I took her hand. “This is not your fault. This is war, girl, and there are always casualties in war. We’re trying our best to free humans from the control of these assholes. We have to stay strong now, and go and do our best to save them all.”
Ryder’s cell rang then, and all of us fell silent as he answered it on speaker.
“Ryder here. Talk to me.”
Blue Eye’s voice came through loud and clear. “Red alert, Ryder. The cure is working, but as we suspected the small numbers who did not drink, or noticed early, are out on the streets trying to turn humans. Build their numbers back up.” He sounded harried, but not crazy pissed or anything.
“We saw the New York footage,” Ryder said. “We’re about to suit up and hit Portland Hive before they can get to the humans.”
“I’m on my way there too. I already have men stationed there, on standby. The other Hive cities are quiet so far, and I have people in place to handle any that get out of control. The international ones have required me to call on their local law enforcement. All have been more than willing to help. Hopefully when the dust settles, the Hives will no longer be there. I’ll check in with you over the next few hours, but for now, things are as good as we could expect. Head to Portland if you feel you must. I’ll see you there.”
He hung up before any of us could say another word, but a small sliver of hope flickered in my belly. It had worked, sort of. Most of the vampires were being cured right now, and the Special Forces were going to try and contain and cure the others.
“He’s right,” Kyle said. I could see the New York footage had changed again. There were SWAT and Special Forces all over the streets, their fatigue and camo gear distinctive. Shouts and fighting. Vampires were still trying to rip the humans to pieces, but the moment they stopped to feed, they were shot up with AT20 and the cure.
Carter was already striding toward the door. I dashed across and stopped him. “You can’t come with us, Dad. You’re a vampire. No one will tell the difference now between good and bad vamps. You’ll be targeted.”
Silver eyes swirled crazily, and I had to look away. Too easy to fall into those mesmerizing depths and I needed a clear head for this argument. “Charlie, sweetheart, I want to be cured. I want a human lifetime with your mother … and you. I want us to be a family. I’m not afraid of the cure, and if you think I’m letting you go out there without me, you’re sadly mistaken.”
Well, shit, when he put it like that…
“No, you stay here and keep Mom, Jayden, and Becca safe.”
He narrowed his eyes on me and I returned the gesture. I knew we looked similar, and I wondered how much of his virus blood had actually shaped me during my development in the womb. Like he was actually my blood father in some ways, after all.
“Sweetheart,” my mom said, interrupting our epic stare-off. “I would feel much better if Carter was there to keep an eye on you. We’ll be safe here. There are no vampires in this area, and there’s no reason for them to leave Portland. They’re trying to take their city back.”
I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “Fine, you can come, I guess.”
Markus snorted then, and that set off a chain reaction of chuckles from the rest of the enforcers. Even Carter cracked a smile, before hugging me again.
“Thank you for the permission, daughter.”
“Uh, and I’ll be coming too, BAFF, unless you want to throw down ash style right now.” Jayden had untangled himself from Oliver long enough to hear about him staying behind. “You and Oliver are my family. Not to mention the rest of these meatheads. I’ll be there keeping your backs safe. Don’t even try to stop me.”
I sighed again. “Can’t keep you assholes safe, nope. No one listens to Charlie.”
Jayden gave me the perfect single raised eyebrow. He was an expert at the WTF expression. “How about you stay here, girlfriend. I’d like to know you’re safe for once, instead of gallivanting around like you’re bulletproof and shit.”
That shut me right up, until I saw Ryder open his mouth and I swung around to him. “Don’t even think about it. I’m going! This is my fight. I’m the cure for a reason.”
“Well, in that case ….” Becca stepped forward, but before she could say more, everyone in the room let out a resounding, “NO!”
She dropped back onto the couch. “Fair enough,” she said, scowling at all of us. Which honestly looked so adorable on her bespectacled face.
There was no more arguing. It looked like everyone besides my mom and Becca were hitting the city. I had a brief thought for Tessa, and hoped Lincoln had stashed her somewhere really safe. Preferably not in any Hive cities.
Ryder was all business now. “Okay then, time to suit up. We need full gear, plus the cure weapons and extra darts.” He was already in his black enforcer gear, weapons practically dripping off him.
So freakin’ hot. Give me a man with a big gun any day. Actually, just give me Ryder. He was way more than I could handle, and would ke
ep me on my toes forever.
When I reached his side, he captured my hand and I lifted my head so he could press his lips to mine. The moment I tasted him my legs went weak and my heart started fluttering. He caught me around the waist, and for so many moments I was lost in everything that was Ryder. The strength, goodness, and warrior personality was one part; the other was the way he treated me, how he stared into my eyes like I was the only one in the world. The intensity he loved me with was breathtaking, and I would never be ready to give it up.
“We’ll have our forever, Ryder,” I said, pulling back slightly, our faces so close I could see every facet of silver and black in his eyes. “I love you.”
With a low growl he pressed his lips to mine and we were kissing again, and it was only when more than one throat cleared that I realized the rest of our group was standing around us, geared up and ready to go. I didn’t even blush when we pulled away from each other. No regrets. Hope they enjoyed the show, because there would be many more in the future.
It took me about five minutes to gather my shit, hug my mom and Becca goodbye, and then we were out the door and into two vehicles. Not as horrible as beige POS, but still plain, non-descript sedans. It was late afternoon and we were in a race to beat the sun.
“Do we have extra cure in the trunk?” I asked Ryder. I was in the passenger seat, no need to worry about rambunctious cure hunting humans today. The radio had informed us that all humans, unless those specifically trained to handle this type of situation, were on lockdown. Homes and offices were being barricaded, and armed forces were gathering in the streets. Curfew was in effect, no one was allowed outside during night hours.
During our drive the boys all got lots of updates. Kyle was still blocking off alerts from other Hives, and Lincoln continued to confirm that the cure was working. In some Hives we had a 95% cure rate. New York had been one of the lowest at 70%.
“We should be good here, right? I mean Lucas is sort of in charge, and we already wiped out so many of their numbers in the last battle,” I said into the silent car. “Right?”
Carter leaned forward; he was in the seat behind Ryder. “Don’t underestimate Portland. Have you heard from Lucas?”
I had to shake my head. Despite repeated attempts to contact him, no messages seemed to be going through.
Carter didn’t say any more, but we all knew what he was thinking. Portland vampires hated me and the enforcers, and they had most likely killed Lucas and brought in reinforcements to their Hive. They would have been ready for war, even before the cure started making the rounds. Great. As if we weren’t in enough danger, we were heading for the town filled with vampires who had nothing but vengeance on their minds.
Chapter 12
The sun was sinking into the western sky, the last rays of safety brushing across Portland. We were camped out about two miles from the Hive compound. So far we hadn’t run into any special forces even though Lincoln said they were stationed somewhere nearby. They must be in hiding, waiting for some signal. The streets were empty enough that we wouldn’t have missed them. So far all we’d seen was a police van driving the streets blaring a message for the citizens of the city: “You are under martial law. Do not leave your homes, vampires are attacking the city. We will let you know when you can come out. Stay inside. Report any activity to 9-1-1.”
Ryder’s phone buzzed between us. He glanced down before bringing it to his ear.
“Lincoln,” he said quietly.
He was silent for many minutes, listening as the SWAT leader barked information at him. When he hung up, he swiveled around slightly so everyone could hear him. “The Army has been ambushed in the northeast part of the city. Some vampires got them on the road, and here’s the odd part. They emerged from inside a building which had been empty not five minutes earlier.”
WTF? How did they get in there with the sun still out? It just went down.
“Lincoln says more armed forces are on the way, but for now we’re all that stands between Portland and the Hive. Red alerts are going out across all news outlets, social media, and even text alerts are being sent. Lincoln said some humans from smaller towns in Oregon have come out to help fight. Which is a pain more than anything because they don’t have a chance in hell against vampires. All they’re going to be giving them is blood and targets to turn. So we not only have to keep the Hive contained until the Army manages to get through, but we also need to keep an eye out for any human heroes.”
Wicked. So it was eight of us versus hundreds. I had to ask him: “How the hell were they coming from inside the buildings? The sun just dropped.”
Ryder shrugged. “I don’t know, but Lincoln seemed livid. That area had been cleared already, so no one expected an ambush. They must have somehow preplanned this, hid inside buildings for a few days.”
Possibly, but it didn’t quite seem right. Someone would have noticed them surely. But if they weren’t already hiding in the buildings, how were they moving without going into the sun? And without being seen? As far as I knew, none of their ten houses’ superpowers included turning invisible. It was almost as if they were…
My stomach dropped when the realization hit me. My hands were shaking as I brought them up to brush my short hair off my face. “Oh fuck of all fucks.”
My dad raised an eyebrow at that one. “You know what’s up, Charlie?”
Without acknowledging anyone, I snatched the phone from Ryder and speed-dialed Lincoln. We didn’t have a second to waste. The moment I heard Blue Eyes’ voice, I said the two words that any Portland native would know.
“Shanghai tunnels.” I then hung up. I had no time to chat with the SWAT dude any longer.
The moment I mentioned the tunnels, color drained from the faces around me, and the entire sexy six burst into action with a collective “Fuck!”
I swallowed, hoping to hell I was wrong, but my gut was saying I was right. My mom took me on the tour of the underground tunnels when I was twelve. In the 1850s to about 1940, these tunnels were built under all of the bars and hotels in Portland. A drunk bar patron would be sitting in his stool one minute and the next minute a trapdoor would open and the man would be sucked down into the tunnels to be robbed and sold as a slave on a ship and taken out to sea.
Not the proudest Portland history, but these tunnels existed all over the city, and I would bet my life the vampires had connected the Hive to them. They were smart enough to ensure they had a way to stay out of the sun and still get around. Fuckers were probably in every one of the older building in Portland right now, waiting until the darkness hit to burst out and fuck up the city. Well, darkness had just hit and we were so screwed.
Even my father looked concerned. He stated the obvious: “We’re on the wrong side of the river.” The Hive and the airport were on the East side of the Willamette. The majority of the tunnels were on the West Side. We needed to cross the Willamette now. Holy shit, there must be over twenty spots where the tunnels came up into bars and businesses. Where would we even begin?
Sam halted us before we could burst into action. “They expect us to steer clear of the Hive. We should go in, find the tunnel they used, and surprise them from behind.”
My mouth dropped open. “I’m not a fan of suicide, Sam, but thanks.” That was a really bad idea when there was no way to know for sure the tunnel thing was right. I wouldn’t bet all of our lives on it. Carter had already told us that if we got within five hundred feet of the Hive and they were waiting for us, we’d all be dead.
Of course, now he’d changed his mind. With a nod he joined in: “You’re right. They wouldn’t expect us to figure out the tunnels until it was too late. If we can infiltrate the Hive and come up at their backs, we’ll have the element of surprise.”
When did the world stop rotating around the sun? Was I now the cautious one? The adult in this situation? I knew nothing about adulting; it was scary and outside my wheelhouse. But I couldn’t lose any of my boys, so I needed t
o step up here.
“It’s too risky! We’ll get our heads blown off if you’re both wrong,” I said, trying to put as much command in my voice as possible. It just came out full of anger. Anger was my response to impending doom.
My father strode over to me and cupped my chin. “I love you, Charlie. You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.”
Before I could respond to his emotional display, he crouched and pushed off the ground, sailing into the air and flying fifty feet above our heads.
“No! Get back here!” I ran after him, but I wasn’t fast enough. My father was an Original and holy shit he was full-on flying in a huge arc across the sky, headed right for the Portland Hive.
“Why would he do that?” I shouted, turning to scramble with the rest of the enforcers into the cars.
Ryder just squeezed my hand as we flew into the back seat and Kyle gunned the car. “He’s going to make sure it’s safe for us to go in.”
Fuck! I wanted to get to know him, have him in my life before he decided to go off as a hero and get killed. I fought back the tears, searching for some inner positivity, some hope. I couldn’t write him off yet. He was an Original. He would be okay.
Kyle spun the wheel and took a hard turn. We had been a mile or so out, so it only took us a few minutes to see the gated compound. It looked deserted, but that didn’t mean anything. The front gate was closed, repaired from the last time we’d smashed through it. One of the guys jumped out and managed to pulverize the locks and cut the chains tying it all together. We weren’t in reinforced SUVs now, so smashing through was a bad idea.
There were no ash or vampires on the front gate. And none in any of the security huts which littered the grounds. I’d never seen those buildings empty. Maybe the boys were right, maybe all of this Hive had gone into the tunnels. Kyle drove like a maniac, the tires squealing the entire way before we slammed to a halt at the front door of the compound. He didn’t bother with the underground parking, we’d been ambushed there by vampires too many times.